Best import quality guitar?

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TOStudent

TOStudent

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PRS SE, Epiphone, ESP LTD, Ibanez ?
China,Japan or Korea?

looking for something cheaper with a mahagony body, fixed bridge.
Something that can play Metal not Nu or tuned to Q metal, but maybe has two pick ups for versatility playing some other stuff. $500+. Used is an option.

Thoughts?
 
sounds like you want a japanese Ibanez RGA-121.

fixed bridge, two humbucker. Mahogany body, I think. Japanese. Awesome.
 
I think we all know what my answer will be here...

Japanese, any of them, especially the ones that are produced for japan only like edwards and tokai etc.

i hear good things about the PRS SE's though and about korea in general
 
I've had ZERO problems and only complete satsifaction with my ESP's - the FR-II and the NT-II.

They're my go-to shred guitars. They play fast as hell, feel solid, resonate incredibly, and feel good in hand... They've got a feel of quality to them, and when looking at them really really closely, there's ZERO tolerance for compromise. They're built extremely well.

My 2 cents.
V.
 
i cannot say the same about my ESP - i wont order or own another ESP unless its a custom shop model and i have $5,000 spare cash to burn in my pocket.

FWIW i have a korean 1988 charvel. they are getting harder to find - but i would take a made in USA jackson over it anyday. back to back, the tone difference is substantial.

i do love japanese guitars though. but i have had my problems with them as well. i have a prestige and also played a MIJ strat - both are memorable experiences. cant say the same for the made in USA charvels - i just cant come to liking those guitars :aww:

most epiphones i have heard sound great. same goes for edward guitars - fucking killer for the price :rock:

basically it comes down to (almost) the year and exact guitar. too many variables to link them by brands.
 
Tokai, Edwards, PRS SE are all nice for the price. Isn't Charvel making import models now? I've heard good things about them. Check out the Rasmus stuff too if you like Suhr.
 
I had a MIJ Squier that was actually quite nice. I also have a couple different Korean made axes; a Schecter C-1 Classic and a Washburn Dime 333. They both play perfectly and sound great as well. I've heard people complain about the wood selection of Schecters, saying they sound "dead", but mine and most of the ones I've played over the years have played and sounded top notch.

Many of the cheaper ESP's (LTD) sound/feel like plastic to me. They don't have that woody, resonant tone that a guitar should have.
 
I have Dean Soltero's made in Korea. Solid maple caps, Grover tuners, switched out the pots and pups. My local tech has just gone on and on how nice they are and can't believe you can get them so cheap. You can find them used for about $425 - $500. There is a used white on in the emporium right now.
 
Schecter is a safe bet. Hamer also makes very good imports. Dean is also good, but a bit inconsistent imho.
 
I prefer the LTDs over the Schecters....

The Dean imports are nice as well.
 
chunktone":1wtxc31j said:
Schecter is a safe bet. Hamer also makes very good imports. Dean is also good, but a bit inconsistent imho.
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How about the DBZ import stuff? Anyone have any experience with those. FWIW I love my PRS SE's.
 
Gsxrbusa":1dwbz7jn said:
chunktone":1dwbz7jn said:
Schecter is a safe bet. Hamer also makes very good imports. Dean is also good, but a bit inconsistent imho.
Click to expand...


How about the DBZ import stuff? Anyone have any experience with those. FWIW I love my PRS SE's.
Click to expand...

I local store has the DBZ stuff and they are nice.
 
chunktone":yem8428s said:
Schecter is a safe bet. Hamer also makes very good imports. Dean is also good, but a bit inconsistent imho.
Click to expand...

Yeah the earlier import Dean's seemed to be more consistent than the later ones. I bought 3 used ones and got lucky. :thumbsup:
 
glassjaw7":39vjgnik said:
Many of the cheaper ESP's (LTD) sound/feel like plastic to me. They don't have that woody, resonant tone that a guitar should have.
Click to expand...

I had a few as throw around guitars and they always felt and sounded like Garbage :lol: :LOL: Had a few total crap ESP's too.. :yes: :aww:
 
glassjaw7":1j81hckh said:
I had a MIJ Squier that was actually quite nice. I also have a couple different Korean made axes; a Schecter C-1 Classic and a Washburn Dime 333. They both play perfectly and sound great as well. I've heard people complain about the wood selection of Schecters, saying they sound "dead", but mine and most of the ones I've played over the years have played and sounded top notch.

Many of the cheaper ESP's (LTD) sound/feel like plastic to me. They don't have that woody, resonant tone that a guitar should have.
Click to expand...

compared to a USA custom jackson, my charvel sounded exactly like that :lol: :LOL:

but, my charvel played better and still held its own. not bad for the $1,000 price difference :rock:
 
I don't get this whole "import quality" thing that I've heard some folk talk about. Maybe it's because I'm Aussie and everything gets imported here.
FWIW I've owned a few USA made guitars, a few japanese and korean guitars and as far as QC goes, Japanese guitars are the most consistent and as far as production guitars go I daresay superior in quality from my experience (think J-custom). Every Japanese fender I've played has been unreal too and a very good friend of mine owns a japanese and USA tele which are almost identical on an appearance level but IMO the japanese one has better fretwork and sounds better to my ears. Also, think about the QC inconsistency that gibson has had of late, you would never see that from a FujiGen plant guitar. IMO as far as custom shop stuff goes, the USA still churns out the best stuff but when talking about production guitars I beg to differ.

If you're thinking midrange stuff, The best way to go is used japanese gear as mentioned earlier. You can't compare chinese and korean instruments to japanese ones. Japan is in another league.

EDIT: I've played some really average sounding standard series ESP's, was moreso speaking about ibanez.
 
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